Communities rewarded for hitting maternal health targets
Twelve communities in three districts in the Upper West Region have been rewarded for their commitment to achieving child and maternal health targets set under the Community Benefits Health (CBH) Project.
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Ten of the communities received a borehole each while the remaining two communities had one emergency transport each to promote maternal and child health in their localities.
The two-year CBH Project seeks to develop and test innovative interventions and strategies aimed at addressing common barriers that militate against improved access to basic maternal, newborn and child health services.
The $670,000 project is being implemented by Concern Worldwide in partnership with ProNet North with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Men’s involvement
The Regional Minister, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, expressed happiness with the involvement of men in the project.
“I am happy that through this project, men in the beneficiary communities now understand the importance of antenatal care to the health of pregnant women and the unborn babies and are now actively engaged in sending their wives by themselves to health facilities to access the services,” he noted.
He, however, appealed to the men not just to let it end there, but go a step further to support the women to take proper care of the children in a manner that would guarantee them a better future.
He also called on chiefs and elders of the communities to take the initiative of reviewing all cultural practices inimical to the health of women and children.
Girls in early marriage
Alhaji Sulemana also touched on the problem of early marriage of girls and warned the community members against the illegal practice.
“Sometimes, you see a girl carrying a child and you are thinking whether that is the brother or the sister without knowing that is the mother. This is unacceptable and must stop,” he said, adding, “Allow the girls to mature before you give out their hands in marriage so that they can carry the babies properly when they deliver.”
The Jirapa District Director of Health Services, Madam Phoebe Balagumyetime, pointed out that pregnancy was not a disease and that no woman should die while trying to give life, hence the importance of the project, which had been tailored to address the health needs of women.
She said the Saawie community made 90 per cent achievement in the area of antenatal care and 80 per cent skilled delivery. — GNA
According to her, 53 men and 20 mothers-in-law accompanied their wives and daughters to health facilities to receive antenatal health care services, adding that 45 people were put on the community emergency response system, with 16 of them being labour cases.
Mr Martin Dery, the Executive Director of ProNet North, applauded the communities for working hard to earn their own choice of the incentives and appealed to them to adopt a good maintenance culture to serve the intended purpose.
He explained the project among other things, aimed at improving maternal, newborn and child health by addressing the demand side barriers through behaviour change around social norms, normative behaviour and gender empowerment.
The strategies, Mr Dery said, included monthly peer educators’ outreach, monthly radio messaging strategy and community health officer-led monthly education among other equally important strategies.